Ville, a Finnish sociologist, writes a book about hunting rituals in different countries in an attempt to penetrate to the heart of different cultures. The last society he examines is Russia. He ravels there in the hope that he can see how the Russian hunters work. With a group of men he goes out into the woods. And then the Russians put the vodka on the table. Where Rogozhkin concentrated in his earlier films on the violent and tragic side of drinking, in this film he portrays the comic side. When the alcohol flows, the misfortune of the hunters only increases; the Finn starts to wonder where – and when – hunt is going to start. One of the most important themes in the work of Rogozhkin is the nature of Russian identity. Audiences at Rotterdam in 1994 were able to make the acquaintance of his tragi-comic Living With an Idiot. ‘The remorselessness with which Rogozhkin attacked his own society in the past is also present in Peculiarities of the National Hunt, but he has tempered its razor edge with wry wit.’ (Dimitri Eipides, Toronto Catalogue)
